consternate

American  

[kon-ster-neyt] / ˈkɒn stərˌneɪt /

verb (used with object)

consternated, consternating

1. to dismay, confuse, or terrify.

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consternate British  

/ ˈkɒnstəˌneɪt /

verb

1. (tr; usually passive) to fill with anxiety, dismay, dread, or confusion

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Other Word Forms

• unconsternated
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of consternate

1645–55; < Latin consternātus, past participle of consternāre to unsettle, throw into confusion, perhaps intensive derivative of consternere to cover, spread (with) ( con- con- + sternere to strew; cf. stratum), though sense development uncertain

Explanation

To consternate someone is to worry or alarm them. If your talented pitcher suddenly loses the ability to pitch a single strike, it will consternate the other players on your softball team. Things that consternate you cause you concern and dismay, sending you into a startled state of confusion. The word comes from the Latin consternat- ("terrified or prostrated"), which derives from another word meaning "throw down." If something is so disorienting and anxiety-provoking that you feel you've been flung to the ground, it consternates you. A pop quiz in your hardest class might consternate you, as might suddenly remembering you have to give a speech you haven't prepared for.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

consternated consternating

And few could make Kristen as adorably consternated as Ms. Linney does.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 27, 2026

Sometimes I became so consternated when I woke up to the reality of my weaknesses that I scrambled to the computer in order to escape all over again.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 8, 2018

Joe Casey, lead singer with Detroit post-punk band Protomartyr, recalls the band’s recent European tour and he’s somewhat consternated.

From The Guardian ● May 3, 2016

The message would engage consternated consumers in a way that meritorious professional initiatives like R-CISC cannot.

From Forbes ● Oct. 6, 2014

They are words of wisdom so profound that they sink deep into the soul of his pupil, and fill him with a consternated sadness and perplexity.

From A House-Party Don Gesualdo and A Rainy June by Ouida

Another consternating item of last week's news was the summary discharge of Emil Gumbel, statistician visiting the Genetics Congress, from his professorship in the University of Heidelberg.

From Time Magazine Archive

Margaret Jones manifested startling efficacy of hands and medicines, consternating keenness of perceptives, predictions subsequently verified, and the presence of a vanishing child.

From Witchcraft of New England Explained by Modern Spiritualism by Allen Putnam

And then upon Hilversea and its surroundings and dependents fell another bolt—swift, sudden, consternating.

From The Red Derelict by Bertram Mitford

So the chance to put his serviceability to the proof in consternating circumstances like these, afforded her a subtle satisfaction.

From Mary Wollaston by Henry Kitchell Webster